I've got Oscar and Astrid at 20/20 right now, and Makalov at 7...I regret not training him. He's a really good unit, even when he's low level like this.
And yeah, Paladins are excellent in FE9. I forged a Silver Lance for Oscar, made the attack 19, hit 100, crit 9 and weight 7. Coloured it green and named it "Green Lance" (yeah I know, very original). He's a killing machine with that lance.